Authors :
Hasara Abeywardhana; Dr. Lakmini Abeywardhane
Volume/Issue :
Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 11 - November
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/5cdj83x9
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/ycyjnmrz
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25nov1533
Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.
Abstract :
Education plays a vital role in shaping the economic growth and sustainable development of a nation. It is not
only a measure of a country’s intellectual wealth but also a determining factor in its future progress. In Sri Lanka, education
is provided free of charge by the government from primary school through university, ensuring equal access for all students.
Within this framework, the General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) – G.C.E. (O/L) and the General Certificate
of Education (Advanced Level) – G.C.E. (A/L) examinations represent two critical milestones in the academic journey.
The G.C.E. (A/L) examination, in particular, serves as the gateway to higher education and university admission, marking
a pivotal stage in shaping students’ academic and professional futures. At the end of the O/L stage, students are required
to select a subjectstream such as Science, Arts, Commerce, or Technology to pursue during their A/L studies. This choice has
a lasting impact, as it directly determines the student’s educational direction and career opportunities. However, many
students make this crucial decision based on external influences, such as parental pressure, peer comparison, or limited
guidance, rather than through a clear understanding of their academic strengths, personal interests, or long-term career
aspirations. Consequently, this often leads to dissatisfaction, stream switching, or even discontinuation of studies. To
address this issue, it is essential to adopt a data-driven approach that considers multiple factors, including students’ O/L
examination performance, inborn talents, extracurricular activities, and preferred professional fields. This research
introduces a machine learning-based model the Subject Stream Prediction System—designed to recommend the most
suitable A/L subject stream for students. The proposed system not only predicts the optimal subject stream but also provides
additional guidance by suggesting potential career paths, relevant educational qualifications, and technical skills aligned with
the student’s profile. Four supervised machine learning algorithms K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Decision Tree, Random
Forest, and Support Vector Machine (SVM)were trained and evaluated to develop the predictive model, ensuring the
highest possible accuracy and reliability.
Keywords :
Machine Learning Algorithm, Subject Stream, Prediction System.
References :
- H. N. F. Al-Dossari, Z. A. M., A.-Q., and Others, “A machine learning approach to career path choice for information technology graduates,” Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, 2020.
- J. Bobadilla, F. Ortega, and A. Hernando, “Recommender systems survey,” ACM Computing Surveys, March 2013.
- A. Nagpal and S. P., “Career path suggestion using string matching and decision trees,” International Journal of Computer Applications, vol. 117, no. 7, 2015.
- T. P. A. Kumar, “Collaborative web recommendation systems based on an effective fuzzy association rule mining algorithm (farm),” Indian Journal of Computer Science and Engineering, 2019.
- M. Department of Census and Statistics, Statistical Pocket Book 2024. Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka, 2024.
- I. M. Sahib, K. A., P. S., G. G., and K. W., “Exact string matching algorithms: Survey, issues, and future research directions,” IEEE Access, pp. 1–1, 2019.
- Y. G. Nie, Z. M., Z. R., W. D., and G. Y., “Career choice prediction based on campus big data—mining the potential behavior of college students,” Applied Sciences, vol. 10, p. 2841, 2020.
- J. Kim and L. K. Kim, “Determinants of academic stream choice among korean secondary students: An empirical study on performance, interest and career alignment,” Korean Journal of Educational Research, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 223–240, 2023.
- P. E. Illukkumbura, “Factors affecting students’ selection of g.c.e. advanced level science subjects: A case study of sinhala medium students in nuwara-eliya education zone,” Master’s thesis, University of Peradeniya, 2016.
- Department of Census and Statistics, Statistical Pocket Book 2023. Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka, 2023.
Education plays a vital role in shaping the economic growth and sustainable development of a nation. It is not
only a measure of a country’s intellectual wealth but also a determining factor in its future progress. In Sri Lanka, education
is provided free of charge by the government from primary school through university, ensuring equal access for all students.
Within this framework, the General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) – G.C.E. (O/L) and the General Certificate
of Education (Advanced Level) – G.C.E. (A/L) examinations represent two critical milestones in the academic journey.
The G.C.E. (A/L) examination, in particular, serves as the gateway to higher education and university admission, marking
a pivotal stage in shaping students’ academic and professional futures. At the end of the O/L stage, students are required
to select a subjectstream such as Science, Arts, Commerce, or Technology to pursue during their A/L studies. This choice has
a lasting impact, as it directly determines the student’s educational direction and career opportunities. However, many
students make this crucial decision based on external influences, such as parental pressure, peer comparison, or limited
guidance, rather than through a clear understanding of their academic strengths, personal interests, or long-term career
aspirations. Consequently, this often leads to dissatisfaction, stream switching, or even discontinuation of studies. To
address this issue, it is essential to adopt a data-driven approach that considers multiple factors, including students’ O/L
examination performance, inborn talents, extracurricular activities, and preferred professional fields. This research
introduces a machine learning-based model the Subject Stream Prediction System—designed to recommend the most
suitable A/L subject stream for students. The proposed system not only predicts the optimal subject stream but also provides
additional guidance by suggesting potential career paths, relevant educational qualifications, and technical skills aligned with
the student’s profile. Four supervised machine learning algorithms K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Decision Tree, Random
Forest, and Support Vector Machine (SVM)were trained and evaluated to develop the predictive model, ensuring the
highest possible accuracy and reliability.
Keywords :
Machine Learning Algorithm, Subject Stream, Prediction System.